David Benyamine, Daniel Negreanu and Vanessa Rousso have all joined the list of participants for Premier League Poker next month in Las Vegas. One of PartyPoker players has a chance to get the seat in this special event. Today we tell the winning stories of two of the 16 players that won at Party tables and are now in the play-offs for that one seat in the Premier League main event and the $100,000 professional poker sponsorship from PartyPoker.
greensms
I can assure you that nobody was as excited about winning the Premier League Poker play-off in Vegas than I was on Sunday January 3rd 2010. I bought into the $52 satellite the week before and placed first to secure a $480 seat to compete for one of the premium Vegas packages.
After the first hour of play the size of my chip stack remained the same as when I started the tournament. In the second hour I decided to pick up the aggression by raising with a few better than marginal hands but was heavily re-raised each time.
Realizing that I had to eventually make a move since I was not getting any premium hands, I raised pre-flop with 77 only to be re-raised all-in by the big blind who had previously re-raised my last two hands. I decided to call for all of my chips hoping for two over cards. The big blind showed AK and the flop came up showing 9,4,2, followed by the turn 8 and then the river 3. My hand held up and I was able to double up.
I elevated my chip count midway through the tournament as I called a raise with pocket threes and the flop came up giving me the set with no possible straights or flushes. I bet the hand followed by 2 callers. The turn produced a possible flush so I re-raised all in to protect my hand which was followed by two callers both of which were looking for the flush. My hand held up and I was catapulted into the chip lead.
I was able to manage my stack well and remained a slight chip leader heading onto the final table. The big hand that I won that set me up to win the package came as I was seated in the small blind and raised the big blind (who was second in chip count) with QJ. He called and the flop came A,Q,10 with two diamonds. The big blind raised and I called with the turn producing a K giving me the straight. I raised heavily and he re-raised all in which I immediately called, as I knew I had the best possible hand. He showed KQ suited of diamonds, giving him two pair with a possible flush, full-house and straight draw. The river came showing an 8 of hearts which doubled me up and gave me a commanding chip lead.
I would go on to finish in top spot and qualify to play-off in Vegas where I hope to be sharing the final table sitting across from some of the best in the poker world.
This tournament will be the first major tournament that I will be playing off line. I have only played in small buy-in events at a local amateur poker establishment and low limit $1-2 cash tables at casinos. My one and only live tournament win, ironically enough was on my honeymoon aboard a Celebrity cruise ship in a $50 turbo texas hold em tournament where I finished in 1st place.
In 2008/2009 I had limited time to play poker as the demands of a newborn daughter took priority over logging in time at the tables. However, having this hiatus from poker allowed me to re-focus and establish some poker goals going forward into 2010.
First of all I wanted to be more smart with the time I had to play poker and I wanted to focus my play on satellite qualifiers for the major poker tournaments. So far 2010 is shaping up to be a good year. It has always been my dream to take my poker skills to the next level and to have the opportunity to sit next to the legends of this game.
I am so pumped to be given this opportunity with PartyPoker in Vegas. Daniel Negreanu, Gus Hansen and Doyle Brunson have to be among the three top players that I would be the most excited about seeing sitting at my table. Subsequently, Phil Ivey would have to be the one person that I would fear a re-raise from at the tables.
In terms of preparation for this event in Vegas I am going to have to say that I will enjoy competing in this tournament as the high caliber of play would be an amazing learning opportunity that would both challenge me to play better and thus make me a better poker player.
My expectations for this event is that I want to be able to play solid and consistent poker throughout the whole tournament while adjusting my game play according to different table conditions/situations. The opportunity to win a $100,000 PartyPoker contract and to travel around the world and play with the pros would be the icing on the cake and a personal dream come true!
fabschik888 (pictured)
My most important was the last playing hand, when we where just 3 players left. I won with A7 all in against AK (flop 7, turn 7). After this hand I was the big stack and the opponent lost all his chips against me.
I live in Baden and we have the biggest casino in Switzerland in the city. There I play a lot of tournaments . Last year I was in the casino ranking number 5.
My expectations are having fun and a good game, against challenging players. And I would love to win the Party Poker sponsorship.
I would like to play against Tony G. He’s a funny player and I <love Lithuanians>.
My biggest goal in poker is to win a big tournament. Card games are my biggest passion in 40 years now.
Stay tuned to the PartyPoker blog for even more player profiles in the near future plus all the live coverage from the playoffs and the main event of the Premier League Poker in Las Vegas next month.
